Make your own - No waste - 5 gallon (25# feed) bucket feeder for about $3

[ShrekDawg]

My first one was a 5 gallon bucket with snap on lid. My second is a large (dont know the size off hand, but I can look) steralite container. Both used 3" street elbows from home depot.

Thank you! So just regular 90 degree street elbows or the ones with the flange on the other end or? And assuming they sell all this at home depot?

 

[vehve]

I usually buy 90 deg elbows with a slight lip on the outside of the pipe, easier to make it fit snuggly in the hole when you can push it against the hole and it's a bit wider. Mine stay in it nicely without glue, because the hole saw I use is the exact same diameter as the pipe. I recommend testing out with one elbow first, and tuning how far below the level of the hole it reaches, you can adjust feed wastage pretty nicely by having the pipe go lower into the container. But if your chickens have trouble getting feed out of there, you can always trim the pipe a bit shorter. A bit less than an inch seems to work best for me.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thanks for the info! I'll look into that and definitely test one first

 

[Husker Hens]

Yea, I used 90 degree street elbows and set them on a 3/4" board when drilling so they are approximately 3/4" off the bottom of the tub. Honestly I don't think it would allow them to waste food even if they were 3" or more off the bottom but at some point they wouldn't be able to eat to the bottom of the container.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yea, I used 90 degree street elbows and set them on a 3/4" board when drilling so they are approximately 3/4" off the bottom of the tub. Honestly I don't think it would allow them to waste food even if they were 3" or more off the bottom but at some point they wouldn't be able to eat to the bottom of the container.

That makes a lot of sense! Thanks!

 

[vehve]

Yea, I used 90 degree street elbows and set them on a 3/4" board when drilling so they are approximately 3/4" off the bottom of the tub. Honestly I don't think it would allow them to waste food even if they were 3" or more off the bottom but at some point they wouldn't be able to eat to the bottom of the container.

The distance between the pipe and the bottom shouldn't affect wastage that much, actually you might have flow problems making it too little. But the amount of pipe going straight down below the angle part is what affects the wastage the most. If the pipe is level with the hole, they can easily pull out feed, but if they have to stretch down an inch or two to get to the feed, they wont be able to pull the feed as easily, and you won't waste as much feed.

 

[Husker Hens]

I gotcha, yea I've only used the one size and I've never cut more off than I needed to so they're all about the same. I guess it's better to err on the high side when drilling your 3.5" hole

 

[member 373180]

Anybody use these feeders for SMALL BREED BANTAMS? What size elbow would work for them?

I spent a little more on totes and made a couple of these for my little sebrights. I used 3" street elbows and they work great!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I gotcha, yea I've only used the one size and I've never cut more off than I needed to so they're all about the same. I guess it's better to err on the high side when drilling your 3.5" hole

I spent a little more on totes and made a couple of these for my little sebrights. I used 3" street elbows and they work great!

Do you guys just use regular 90 degree street elbows or the double cuffed ones or long sweep or what?

 

[MeepBeep]

Do you guys just use regular 90 degree street elbows or the double cuffed ones or long sweep or what?

I used the 4" PVC sewer street elbows, they call them 'long' but they are far from long... Also not to be confused with common Schedule 40 PVC pipe or elbows... 4" sewer PVC is about 3.25", smaller and thinner then 4" PVC Schedule 40...

Note these 'sewer' fittings are NOT with the rest of the PVC in most big box hardware stores, they are generally in another drainage isle or out in the outside garden area... Look for green colored drains or the big 4" rolls of black crinkle tubing, these elbows are probably in that area...

Search Lowes website for '41P0ST' Or you can Google that part number as well but shipping will kill you...

http://www.ndspro.com/PDFs/Tech-Spe...ree-Long-Turn-Street-Elbow-X1P0ST-X10STxx.pdf